Fully automatic machine for making brushes



April 17, 1956 MARKS FULLY AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR MAKING BRUSHES Filed April 20 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 wmw wk THEODORE fig ATTORNEY I b 2950 muw April 17, 1956 MARKS FULLY AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR MAKING BRUSHES Filed April 20, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 R f H 0 N T R N O EK T m A M E R ,L O D O 3M QR 9 N3 o 0 mm April 17, 1956 MARKS 2,742,327

FULLY AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR MAKING BRUSHES Filed April 20 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 F/54 F/Ei' m 38) g T/ E. 9

52 INVENTOR. ML THEODORE MARKS j BY ATTORNEY FULLY AUTOMATIC MACHINE FOR MAKING a BRUSHES Theodore Marks, Mount Vernon, N. Y;

Application April 20, 1951, Serial No. 222,007

' 17 Claims. c1. 300-2 The present invention relates to a fully automatic machine for making brushes of the cylindrical type in which the bristles or fibers are held in spaced relation between strands of intertwisted wires.

Heretofore, such brushes have been formed inmachines in which many of the operations are manually performed. Strands of wires were first cut into selected machine in which all brush forming operations are continuously performed in proper sequence so that a cylindrical brush is produced from the various bl'LlSh forming elements fed into the machine without any intervening.

manual operation.

The present invention therefore contemplates the provision of a machine which automatically performs the following sequence of operations: 1

(a) Feeds the strands of wires from continuous rolls: thereof in lengths thereof which correspond to the length.

of the finished brush body.

(b) Picks the brush forming bristles in spaced tufts thereof and lays the picked bristles or fiber tufts between the wires in selected spacing as the strands of wires are fed.

Holds the wires and twists them about the bristles to form the brush.

(d) Cuts the wires at the end of the formed brush to permit it to drop from the machine and (e) Holds the severed ends of the wire strands prior to grasping them for repeating the above sequence of operations.

The present invention contemplates the provision of means whereby the above enumerated sequence of operations is. automatically performed in a single brush making machine.

These, other and further objects and advantages of the present invention, and those by means of which the proper performance of a machine of this character is attained, will be clear from the description which follows and the drawings appended thereto, in which Fig. 1 is a. partial perspective side elevation of the leading. section of a brushv making machine according to my invention, with the reduction gearing between parts 156:: and 1560 omitted. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the continuing succeeding section of such a machine.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the clutch and driving mechanism for the oscillating bristle or fiber picker.

Too

Fig. 5 is a side elevation and section on the line 5-=5 of Fig. 4-.

Fig. 6 is a section of a pin wheel used to-feed the fibers or bristles between the strands of wires as they are pulled or fed into the machine.

Fig. 7 is a perspective viewof a detail of the mechanism that holds thebr'istle or fiber stock in position to be picked by the oscillating picker.

Fig. 8 is an elevation of a detail showing the means, in raised position, for permitting a holding fork'to be lowered into operative position after closing the wire Fig. 4 is an end view of the wire strand grasping 7o chuck which may be used in the machine embodying my 6 invention.

holding vise for the wire twisting operation.

Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the position of the said means just prior to closing the vise.

Fig. 10 is a schematic view showing the reduction gearing between the ticker and the pin wheel.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1, the underwire 10 of a preferably cylindrical wire brush, which, since it is conventional and well known is not illustrated here, is fed from a continuous roll 12 of the wire to the roller wheel 14 and then looped under the succeeding wheel1 6, both of whichwheels' are carried by the bracket 18. The'wire 10 is then pulled over the next tension'roller wheel carried on the bracket 22. The arrangement described is but one of many which may be used to hold the wire under tension as it is pulled through my machine by the chuck, generally referred to by the reference character 24 (see Figs. 2, 4 and 5) in the manner which I shall further describe.

supported by the legs 28 (Fig. l) and 30 (Fig; Corresponding brackets for supporting the shafts 32,

' 34 and 36 at their other ends are mounted on the table 26 but are not shown since they are the same as the brackets 18 and 22 and would confuse thejdrawing by crowding it. i i I The upper wire 38, which, with the under wire 10 is twisted to form the brush body, is fed and pulled by the chuck 24 from the roll 40 of continuous wire.

To impart to the upper wire 38 the desired tension, a means such as now described may be used. "Mounted on the table 26, I provide the supporting bracket 42 on which the arm 44 is fixed. Carried" by the arm 44, I provide the first roller wheel 46 under which the upper wire 38 is fed above the second tension roller 48 under the third tension roller 50 prior to its being laid in the grove 52 extending around the periphery of the pin wheel 54 (,see particularyFig. 6). T p

The rolls of wire Hand .40 are carried for free rotation on the brackets 56 and 58, which are preferably supported on the floor, as the wire is pulled throughthe machine by the chuck 24. r

In the machine of my invention, those parts that feed the selected length of wire strandsri-ntothe machine, operate the fiber or bristle picker and the rotationof the pin wheel are driven by the main motor 60 which is supported on the legs 28.

The motor shaft 62 carries the pulley 64 which occur to those skilled inthe art, for example, a chain and sprockets, train of gears, etc. and that shown and described by me is for illustration only.

Intermediate the driven pulley 68 and the driving sprocket 72 011 thecountershaft 70, I provide the-main" clutch; 74, which is; conventionalin form and therefore need not be illustrated and described in detail.

cylinder 78 is used to engage and disengage the main clutch 74 so that, as will be seen, at the proper sequence in the operations, the oscillating picker 80 stops its movement, the pin wheel 54 stops rotation and the chuck 24 stops its movement from the leading part ofthe machine toward the end of the machine, that is from left to right of Figs. 1 and 2. 1 v V It will be understood that the picker wheel 80 is positioned and oscillates in the groove v81 in the pin wheel 54. The wheel 54 in the illustration of Fig. 1 is broken away to show this relative positioning. I

The clutch 74, which is conventional and therefore need not be described in detail, comprises two parts which are brought together into engaging position by a spring and disengaged by movement of the air controlled plunger 76 between the two parts as illustrated in Fig. 1.

The driving sprocket 72 is connected by means of the chain 82 to the upper driven sprocket 84 on the second countershaft 86 on which countershaft 8 6 the pawl 88 is operatively secured by the collar 90.

It will be recognized. that any form of positive drive, such as a chain and sprockets, should be used for operatively connecting the movement of the shaft 70 and the shaft 86. Since these two shafts rotate at the same speed, the'diameter of the sprocket 72 is equal to the diameter of the sprocket 84.

Each rotation of the countershaft 86 moves the It will be noted that the length of the brush is thereby controlled by the number of teeth of the ratchet 92, though it will be understood that any other satisfactory means of timing or counting the number of tufts may be used.

The clutch 74 is engaged when finger 76 has been withdrawn from it by means of air directed into the cylinder 78. a i

The clutch 74 is disengaged when air pressure isremoved from cylinder 78 permitting finger 76 to return by spring tension into the clutch and thus disengage it.,

On operation, assume that the strands of Wires have reached the position for the twisting operation.

At this time, in the sequence of operations, the clutch 74 is disengaged by a solenoid valve, operated in the manner that will be further described in detail.

This solenoid valve is held in open position by an electrical interlock which is conventional and therefore need not be described.

When the microswitch 98 is operated by the proper positioning of the groove in the cam 96, this electrical interlock is broken and the solenoid valve is deenerg'ized and the clutch 74 is disengaged.

The microswitch 98 is connected by means of a wire cable 103 tothe electrical circuit controlling the said interlock.

As the cam 96 on the shaft 94 operates the microswitch 98, as aforesaid, a circuit to the motor 99, which rotates the chuck 24 to twist the wires and form the brush body is completed as will be further described. i 7

Each tooth on the ratchet wheel 92 is designed to correspond to a length of three eighths of an inch of the brush wire strands 10 and 38, the ratchet shaft making one complete revolution for each brush. As the shaft 94 is rotated by the ratchet wheel 92 and pawl 88, the cam 100 is correspondingly rotated to pull the finger 101-fr0m between the parts 102 and 104 comprising a conventional 4. spring controlled positive drive clutch which connects the shaft 86 to the shaft 106 (see Figs. 1 and 3). a

When the roller or cam follower 108 rides on the high part of the cam 100, the finger 101 is pulled away from between the clutch parts 102 and 104 to engage the clutch 110 (see Fig. 3) and the shaft 106 is rotated.

The cam 100, if desired, may be designed with spaced rises and depressions so that the clutch 110 maybe selectively and periodically engaged and disengaged to throw the picker 80 into oscillation through a given length of wire.

Thus, a means is provided for controlling the brush by counting the number of picks or tufts and the number of skipped picks or tufts to thereby form a plurality of brushes in a selected length of wire strands.

The finger 101 is reciprocated in the bracket block 109 by the cam 100 acting against the tension of the spring 111.

The shaft 106 is connected to the link 112 (Fig. 3) which drives the collar 114 through the arm 116 and fingers 118. The collar 114 is secured on the shaft120' which drives the oscillating picker 80, the shaft120 being mounted for oscillating in the post 122 mounted on the table 26.

Rotation of the shaft 106 by engagement of the clutch 110, through the linkage just described oscillates the shaft 120 causing the picker wheel 80 to periodically pick tufts of bristles or fibers from the bottom of the stock pile 124 carried in the holder 126.

The stockof bristles may be forced against the bristle or fiber picking wheel by any satisfactory means, one of which is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 7.

The plate 128 is urged against the stock 124 by means of the weighted leverage comprising the upper arm 130 which is mounted for pivoted movement on the bracket 132 extending from the forward end of the table 26. The

upper arm 130 is gravitationally urged about the pivot pin 134 by the weights 136 on the lower arm 138 fixed to the upper arm.

Should the stock 124 of fibers or bristles become used up, the plate 128 will open a switch 140 which may be provided at the lower end of the holder 126, to stop operation of the motors running my machine, controls for which motors are connected to theswitch 140 by the cable 141. i

The bristle or fiber picker'SO is provided with a slot 143 of such size that the desired amount of bristles or fibers for the particular brush to be formed are picked out by it for each oscillation of the wheel.

As the tuft of bristles is picked out from the stock, it is fed by the oscillating picker 80 in a cluster 139 (see Fig. 6) of proper number of fibers or bristles onto the spaced pins 142 on each side of the rotating pin wheel 54. The

, pins are spaced so that the bristles are fed onto the under 'wire 10, which is pulled underneath the pinwheel 54 and plate 145, so that the bristles are properly spaced from each other between the wires 10 and 38.

In order to prevent the brush bristles or fibers from falling away from the groove 143 in the picker 80 and from the spaced pins of the rotating pin Wheel 54, the curved guide plates 144 and 145 are preferably mounted thereunder. The bristles are fed by the picker 80 from the plate 144 onto the pinwheel 54 between the pins 142 on which they are held by the plate 145, the under wire 10 passing underneath the end of the plate 145. The upper wire 38 passes immediately over the bristles positioned on the under wire 10 to grip them between the two wires, which are in tension. I

The pin wheel 54 is mounted on the shaft 146 carried by the posts 42 and 122 supported by the brackets 147 and 148 mounted on the table 26;

Driven by the shaft 146, I provide the gear 150 which drives the rack 152 slidably mounted on the table 26 and which drives the chuck carriage from the leading 'position' at the head of the machine, to the left of Fig. l

and Where the chuck grips the brush forming wires and 3810 pull them toward the other or outer end of the machines,-to the right of Fig. 2, for the twisting operation asI shall further describe.

The shaft 146 on which the pin wheel 54 is mounted is positively driven by the shaft 86. This maybe accomplished in any satisfactory manner, preferably by means of a train of gears, which for purposes of simplified illustration, is in Figs. 1 and 10 shown as the worm 156 on shaft 86 meshing with worm wheel 156a on shaft 156b carrying a worm 1560 meshing with worm wheel 158 on shaft 146.

For each revolution of the shaft 86, the shaft 146 must be correspondingly rotated to bring one set of pins 142 in position to receive a tuft of bristles from the picker wheel 80.

I provide a plurality of pins on the pin wheel 54 and therefore the same must be provided in the train of gears represented for illustration by the worm 156, worm wheel 156a, worm 156a and worm wheel 158.

It will be apparent that when the clutch 110 (Fig. 3) is disengaged, the picker 80 is not oscillated to pick a tuft of. bristles and therefore tufts of bristles will not be placed between selected sets of pins 142. Thus, operation of the cam 100 controls the number of pins which receive tufts of bristles or which are bare.

The under wire 10 is fed through a groove in the guide plate 145 at the end thereof. Tufts of the bristles or fibers are fed on the under wire 10 by the pinwheel 54 in spaced relation as the 'wire is pulled out by the movement of the chuck 24 from left to right of Figs. 1 and 2 by the gear 150 and the rack 152 as I shall describe in further detail.

As the wires are pulled by the movement of the chuck 24, the tension imposed on them brings the two Wires together with the tufts between them, the upper wire.38. pulling each tuft off the pin wheel.

The chuck 24 having gripped the two wires 10 and 38, they are pulled by the movement of the chuck 24 to the rear of the machine under tension so that the upper wire 38 holds each tuft of bristles in spaced position on the lower wire 10. r

The rack152 is mounted for reciprocable sliding between the leading or front portion of the machine, that is to the left of Figs. 1 and 2, and the following or end portion of the machine, that is to the right of Figs. 1 and 2.

Secured to the rack 152 and moved along therewith, I provide the carriage 162 on which the chuck 24 and the driving shaft 164 for rotating are mounted.

The carriage comprises the platform 168 and the cross pieces 169 and 170 in the bearings 172 and 174 in which the driving shaft 164 is mounted.

To commence the sequence of operations by which the brush is formed, the underwire 10 is fed into position below the periphery of the pin wheel 54 through a groove in the plate 145 (seeFig. 6) to receive brush bristles or fibers from the pin wheel 54. The upper wire 38 is fed into the groove'52 of the pin wheel 54 and projects therefrom above the wire 10, which latter rides on the bearing block 175 (see Fig. 1).

The carriage 162 is then driven forward to its initial position at the leading part or head of the machine by means of the plunger 176 operated by air directed into the cylinder 178 (see Fig. 2).

The chuck 24 is closed so that the free ends of the two wires 10 and 38 projecting in advance of the pin wheel and bearing block are gripped by the jaws 180 and 182 (see Figs. 4 and 5).

This is accomplished by movement of the jaw sleeve 184 from the open position illustrated in Fig. 5 by operation of the plunger 186 in the air cylinder 188 to move the sleeve 184 into jaw closing position to the left ofFigs. 2 and 5. v

Pivoted by means of the pin 190 to the plunger 186, to accomplish this movement, Iprovide the arm 192 6 t which is moved about the pin 190 as a pivot by the admission of air in the cylinder 188 against the plunger 186.

This moves the sleeve 184, which is cone-shaped between the pivoted chuck arms 194 and 196.

The beveled faces of the arms 194 and 196 under the posts 198 and 200 ride on the cone 202 against the tension of the spring 204. I

The chuck arms 194 and 196 are pivoted at 205 and 207 in the chuck. The outer ends 206 and 208 of the chuck arms are spherical in shape so that movement of the cone 202 into the chuck face causes the jaws to close on the two' wires and grip them. j

Synchronous movements of the different elements of my machine are caused by the operation of the cam shaft 210 in thecompartment 212 which is supported on the table 26, as by the supports 214 and 216.

The cam shaft 210 is driven by a synchronous motor 217 through a train of gears (not shownsince it is conventional, and is masked from view by the compartment wall). Each cam operates a solenoid valve, in the compartment 218 to discharge air from a tank into the particular air cylinder.

It will be'understood that, asthe cam shaft 210 is synchronously rotated, each. cam closes a switch in backof. it toenergize in sequence a solenoid which opens an air valve to the air tank to direct air into the corresponding cylinder which actuates the corresponding element of my machine such as' a clutch, chuck jaw actuating arm, carriage moving plunger, etc., all of which move ments either has been or will be described.

It will be understood that in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 the position of the various elements are those positions assumed by them just prior to the commencement ofthe formation of a brush body by twistingthe wires. mainclutch 74 and-clutch 220, the function of which latter I shall point out, are in disengaged condition so that the picker wheel 80 has ceased its oscillation, the pin wheel 54 its rotation, and the carriage 162 is not being driven by the gear 150 and rack 152.

The carriage 162 has been moved to the rear of the machine and is about to twist the wires and thereby be moved toward the front end of the machine, that .is to the left of Fig. 2 and form the brush, which is then cut off. i

Tosum up, prior to the commencement of the brush forming operations, which I shall now describe intheir correct sequence, it should be noted that the cut ends of the wire have been released from the grip of the jaws 206 and 208 of the chuck 24. The clutch 74 is in disengaged condition and the microswitch 98 has been operated to deenergize the solenoid valve through which the clutch 74 has been disengaged. Further, at this point the motor 99 has been operated to rotate the chuck 24 and twist the wires 10 and 38 and form the brush.

The brush has been formed and cut so that the open ends of the wires 10 and 38 are, in position to be gripped by the chuckjaws, the carriage 162 having been moved. forward, that is, from right to left of Figs. 1 and 2, in.

, nously rotated to energize a solenoid in the compartment 218 to direct air into the cylinder 188 and thereby move the cone-shaped sleeve 202 into jaw closing position to.

the left of Fig. 5. v

The clutch 74 after the the cam 225 on the cam shaft 210. p

This causes operation of the shaft 94 and the closing ,of the microswitch "9 8,'which is then. in position to control an electrical interlock for the purposes stated before.

The

formation of the brush, and the gripping of the open ends of the wires 10 and 38 is closed by directing air into the cylinder 78, .which is accomplished by energizing a solenoid valve through,

At the same time, the shaft 146 commences rotation thereby causing the pin wheel 54 to rotate and receive brush bristles orfibres from the picker 80, gathered as a tuft thereof in the slot 143 from the stock 124.

Concurrently, the cam 228 on the cam shaft 210 energizes a solenoid in the compartment 218 to direct air into the cylinder 230 and connect the shaft 232, on which the gear 150 is mounted, to the driving shaft 146 by means of the clutch 224).

As the gear 150 is rotated, it drives the rack 152 from the initial position at the left of Figs. 1 and 2, where the wires have been gripped by the chuck jaws toward the end of my machine at the right of these figures.

Movement of the rack 152 conveys the carriage 162 toward the rear end of my machine, that is to the right of Fig. 2, pulling the wires and 38 out by the chuck 24. As'the wires are pulled out, they pass through the pin wheel groove 52 and the groove in the plate 145 as aforesaid, the bristles or fibers being arranged in spaced tufts on the underwire 10 between the pins 142.

As the pin wheel rotates, the upper wire 38 is brought over the underwire 10 with the spaced tufts of bristles therebctween' and held by the tension imposed on the wires.

The carriage 1.62, which is fixed to the rack 152 is carried by it to a point at which the strands of wires assume the length of the brush before it is twisted, which is determined by the cam 96 operating the microswitch 98, the latter, as previously described, causing the clutch 74 to be disengaged.

As the carriage 162 is moved toward the rear of the machine, the cam-like arm 234 is pulled from underneath the cross arm 236. The cross arm 236 is secured by means of set screw 238 and vertical member 240 to the longitudinally disposed rod 242.

The rod 242 is mounted for rotation in'the bracket 244 on the post 246 secured to the table 26 and a bracket on the compartment 218 (which bracket is not shown). The cam-like arm 234 is mounted on the post 252 secured to the platform 168 of the carriage 162 by the bracket 248. The rod 242 extends through an opening in the vertical arm 240 and an opening in the horizontal arm 250 secured to the post 251 mounted on the bed of the machine. The horizontal arm 253 is carried by the post 246 and supports the shaft 242. r

' As the cam-like arm 234 is removed from underneath the cross arm 236- by rearward movement, to the right of Fig. 2, by the carriage 162, since the latter is no longer supported, it gravitates downward, the rod 242 rotating in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2.

This brings the wire holding fork 254 down toward the wires but not in ultimate position, the wires being drawn through the open space of the fork by the rcarwardly moving chuck 24.

This wire holding fork 254 is preferably removably held in the horizontal arm 236 by means of the set screw 255.

At the same time, the fork controlling means or arm 256 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 2, 8 and 9 toward the jaws 258 and 260 of the vise, which holds the strands of wire for the twisting operation by the movement of the rod 242 to which it is secured so that it is lowered from the position illustrated fork 254 are held in somewhat mate outward position, that is to the right of Fig. 2, as previously pointed out, cam 268 on the cam shaft 210 energizes a solenoid valve to disengage the clutch 74 thereby disconnecting the main motor 60, it being understood that oscillation of the picker 80, and rotation of the bristle feeding pin wheel 54, is stopped.

When the stationary position of the carriage 162 is reached and before the motor 99 is operated to twist the wires, the cam 280 operates a solenoid valve in the compartment 218 to direct air into the cylinders 270 and 272 to thereby move the jaws 258 and 260 of the vise against the wires 10 and 38 to hold them stationary for the wire twisting and brush twisting and brush forming operation.

The jaw 260 is moved thereby to the left of Fig. 9 causing the block 264 to release the nose 262 on the arm 256 so that it may gravitate into ultimate position and thereby bring the fork 254 down against the wires 10 and 38 to straddle them. The action of the fork thus prevents the wires from twisting at the left of Fig. 2.

When this stationary position of the carriage 162 is reached, the motor 99, rotation of which twists the wires to form the brush, is operated by a cam 282 on the cam shaft 210.

At the same time, in order to eliminate any drag by the gear 150 and the rack 152 by placing them in a free running condition, cam 228 directs air into the cylinder 230 to disengage the clutch 220 and so shaft 232 from the shaft 146 which through linkage is connected to the main motor 60 and sundry intervening elements.

As the wires are twisted by the motor 99 which rotates the shaft 164 by any satisfactory means, such as a train of gears (not shown as it is conventional), they are tightly held by the jaws of the vise.

Fig. 2, it is to be noted, is somewhat out of proportion in the distance between the wire gripping vise and the fork 254 in order to give ample room to illustrate the ele- I fork 254, and between it and vise jaws 258 and 260, by

ments between them.

The twisting of the wires locks the bristles between them and forms the brush, the length of the wires between the chuck 24 and the vise being shortened by the twisting operation. The fork 254 also serves to prevent the wires from being twisted, beyond it, so that there will be an open end projecting for the jaws of the chuck to grip after the wires have been cut.

In order to keep the wires 10 and 38 under tension during the twisting operation, I preferably connect the carriage 162 to the counterweight 274 by means of the rope or the like 276 passing over the roller 278 on the underside of the table 26 (see Fig. 2).

This wire twisting operation pulls the carriage 162 to the left of Fig. 2, the carriage and the rack 152 being free running since they have been disconnected from the shaft 146 by the clutch 220.

Each brush comprises a selected number of twists, each of which twists has one tuft of bristles or fibers and therefore when the selected number of twists are formed, the motor 99 is stopped. This is preferably accomplished by connecting to the twisting motor switch a conventional counter.

When the proper number of twists have been formed in the wires and the carriage 162 again held stationary. since the twisting motor 99 has ceased operation, air is directed by the cam 314 and corresponding solenoid valve into the cylinder 188 to now move the arm 192 and the cone-shaped collar into the clutch jaw open position illustrated in Fig. 5, which releases the open endsof the wires, which have formed the brush. Immediately thereafter, air is directed by the cam 316 into the cylinder 284 to move the plunger 286 upward (as viewed in Fig. 2) to clip the wires 10 and 38, at the rear of the the knives 288 and 290.

The knife 288 is secured intermediate its ends by the pivot 292 and the knife 290 intermediate its ends by the .pivot 294 to the horizontal arm 296.

Atjts lower end, the knife 288 is secured to the upper endof the link 2 98 by the pivot 300, the link 298 being securedat its. lower end by the pivot 302 to the connecting plate 304. i

. The knife 290 is secured at its lower end to the upper end of the link 306 by the pivot 308, the link 306 at its lower end being secured to the connecting plate 304 by the'pivot 3 10. i

' The plate '304 at its under edge is secured to the plunger 286 so that movement of the plunger moves the knives into proper cutting position and operates them to cut. ofi' the formed brush, which drops through the openmg 31 2 in the table 26 (see Fig. 2).

A f't$ :n he brush is cut off by the knives 288 and 290, the plate 304 is lowered by directing air into the cylinder 284 by the cam 31 4 and its corresponding solenoid valve in the compartment 218.

The machine is now in condition to automatically return the chuck into position to grip the open ends of the wires'10 and 38 and commence the sequence of operation v h ch he bru h. is form Air is now directed by the cam 317 and corresponding solenoid valve into the cylinder 178 to move the plunger 1715 forward, that is, from right to left of Fig. 2, thereby pushing the carriage 162 and the chuck 24 against the theretofore cut and open ends of the wires and 38.

As the carriage 162 is moved forward, the nose 315 of the cam-like arm 234 engages the horizontal cross arm 2346 to raise it out of the path of movement of the chuck 24 to the front of the machine.

V 'Ihis rotates the rod 242 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 concurrently rotating the arm 256 to the raised position illustrated in Fig. 8.

\Vhfen the chuck 24 has been moved into position, so

that, the open endsof the wires are received between the jaws" 1 80 and 182, air is now directed into a valve controlling the cylinder 178 so that the plunger 176 is released and is now freeto go back toward the rear of the machine. that is from left to right of Fig. 2, under the nfluence of the carriage 162 as it is driven by the gear 150 andrack 152.

Simultaneously, cam- 224 operates to direct air into the cylinder 188 so that the jaws 180 and 182 grip the wires at theirope .ends and cam 317 through its cooperating solenoid val e directs air into cylinders 270 and 272 to open the. vise.

Immediately thereafter, cam 225 operates to direct air intothe Cylinder 78 thereby through the clutch 74 conneetingthe motor 60 to drive the oscillating picker 80, the pin wheel 54 and the gear 150 and rack 152 to repeat the sequence of operations forming the brush just described. i

Air; from a conventional eompresser (not shown) is snpplied to an air tank (not shown) in the compartment218 through thesupply pipe 318 (Fig. 2) and maintainedat the proper pressure by means of a conventional automatic pressurestat, (not shown).

lt -will now be recognized that I have provided a brush forming machine which is fully automatic and feeds open ended wires from rolls thereof in position to receive between them spaced tufts of brush fibers or bristles, twists the Wires to lock ineach coil formed thereby each tuft ofxbristles .or fibers and cuts the continuous wires in back of the last coil of the twisted wires to form the brush.

It will further be. recognized that the automatic machine herein described ,and illustrated may be used to preferably make a'brush of the cylindrical type in which the 'bristlesor fibers are held between strands of intertwisted {wires in spaced relation to each other.

. will be further recognized that the machine or apparatus of my invention feeds thereinto pre-selected lengths of wire strands to form the .desired sizeof the brush having the proper number of coils or twists, be-

tween each of which a selected number of bristles or fibers are held.

Only so much of the members or elements of my machine as are necessary for an understanding of my invention have been shown in the drawings, it being understood that conventional controls and valves may be used to direct air to the cylinders and conventional clutches used to connect and disconnect various shafts.

My invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics.

Hence, the details of the embodiment of my invention just described is therefore to be considered in all respects merely as illustrative and not as restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all modifications and variations as fall within the meaning and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein. It will be understood that in the specification and the claims the words fibers" and bristles are used interchangeably as mean ing any brush filament suitable for use in making twisted wire brushes, such as either animal hairs or plant fibers, or synthetic filaments or the like brush elements, or material which could be interposed between the wires to be gripped thereby when the Wires are twisted.

I claim:

1. In a fully automatic machine for forming a brush having spaced sets of fibers held between a pair of twisted wires, means for supporting a roll of continuous wire, means for supporting a second roll of continuous Wire, a support open at its inner end, for supporting a stock of brush fibers in said support with the fibers extending from the open inner end of said open support, an oscillating picker wheel having a means for removing a selected quantity of fibers from the stock at the. open inner end of the support, a first curved plate underneath the said removing means to hold the said selected quantity of fibers in said removing means, a rotating pin wheel adjacent the oscillating picker wheel, spaced pins extending from the periphery of the pin wheel at each side thereof to form pairs of parallel pins for receiving on each pair of parallel pins 21 set of fibers from said removing means, said pin wheel having a groove for arranging therein a first wire from one of the rolls to form an upper wire, a second curved plate under the rotating pin wheel to hold the said sets of fibers on the pairs of parallel pins, a second wire from the other roll being adapted to form an under wire and positioned under the second curved plate to receive from the pairs of parallel pins spaced sets of fibers, means for gripping the wires adjacent the rotating pin wheel, means for imposing tension on the wires to hold spaced sets of fibers. between the wires, means for drawing the wires to a selected length thereof, means for twisting the wires with the spaced sets of fibers therebetween and means for cutting the wires to form the brush.

2. In a fully automatic machine for forming a brush having spaced sets of fibers held between a pair of twisted wires, means for supporting a continuous under wire free at one end, means for supporting a continuous upper wire free at one end, means for feeding onto the underwire and between it and the upper wire fibers spaced from each other, means for drawing the under wire and the upper wire with the spaced fibers therebetween to a selected length, means for twisting the wires to lock the fibers therebetween, and means for cutting the twisted wires to form the brush whereby the twisted wires are open at each end of the brush. f s

3. The machine of claim 2, said means fordrawing the under wire and the upper wire to a selected length comprising a rotatable gear, a chuck for gripping the free ends of the wires, a carriage for the chuck and a rack driven by the gear and secured to the carriage.

4. The machine of claim '2, said means for feeding the fibers onto the under wire comprising an oscillating picker wheel having a slot of selected dimensions and a rotating pin wheel adjacent the picker wheel.

7 5. In a fully automatic machine for forming a brush, means for automatically operating in the following sequence: means for gripping the free ends of an under wire and an upper wire parallel and adjacent to each other; means for feeding onto the under wire between it and the upper wire spaced sets of fibers and means for concurrently moving the gripping means to pull the wires to a selected length; means for twisting the wires to lock the bristles or sets of fibers therebetween in spaced relation; means for cutting the wires to form the brush; and means for returning the wire gripping means to position to grip the cut ends of the wires.

6. In a fully automatic machine for forming a brush,

means for supporting an upper and a lower wire in substantially parallel adjacent relation; each wire being continuous and having a free end, means for drawing the wires through the machine with the open ends in the lead, means for feeding sets of spaced bristles onto the lower wire and between the upper and lower wire and means for twisting the wires to lock the spaced bristles therebetween.

7. In a machine of the character described, a support open at one end and adapted to contain a stock of bristles in the support and extending from said open end, a picker wheel having an open ended slot extending into the periphery of the wheel, means for oscillating the picker wheel whereby the open end of the slot is moved across the stock of bristles extending from open end of the support to thereby pick from the stock of bristles a selected quantity of bristles, a pin wheel having radially extending spaced pairs of pins adjacent the picker wheel and means for rotating the pin wheel concurrently with oscillating the picker wheel whereby sets of bristles are received in spaced relation from the picker wheel on the pin wheel, and means to periodically stop the oscillation of the picker wheel during rotation of the pin wheel.

8. In a machine of the character described, means for supporting a pair of wires, each wire having a free end, means forfeeding spaced sets of bristles between the wires, a chuck for gripping the free ends of the wires, means for operating the bristle feeding means and means for moving the chuck to pull the wires gripped thereby in synchronism with the operation of the picking means to a pre-selected length and to receive bristles in spaced relation between the wires, said chuck moving means comprising a carriage for the chuck, a movable rack secured to the carriage and a gear driven by the means for operating the bristle feeding means.

9. In a machine of the character described, a motor, a motor shaft, a driven shaft, a clutch for engaging and disengaging the driven shaft and the motor shaft, means for supporting a stock of brush bristles, a picker wheel adjacent the stock of brush bristles to pick therefrom a selected quantity of bristles, means for operatively oscillating the picker wheel driven by the driven shaft, a pin wheel for receiving spaced sets of brush bristles from the picker wheel and rotated by the driven shaft and means for sup porting a pair of spaced continuous wires, each having a free end, for receiving therebetween in spaced relation thereon spaced sets of bristles from the pin wheel.

10. The machine of claim 9, and including a means for gripping the free ends of the wires, a carriage for said gripping means, a movable rack secured to said carriage and a gear for'driving said rack driven by said driven shaft. I

11. In a machine of the character described, means to hold a stock of brush bristles, a picker wheel adjacent the brushbristles and having a groove open at the periphery of the wheel and extending in therefrom toward the center of the wheel, means for oscillating the picker wheel from a normal position whereby the groove therein is wiped across the stock to pick therefrom a selected quantity of brush bristles held in the groove anda pin wheel having radially extending spaced pairs of pins for rotation to receive said bristles-from the groove in spaced sets, said groove in the picker wheel returning to normal position upon completion of oscillation of the wheel, and cam controlled means to'periodically stop the oscillation to the picker wheel.

12. The machine of claim 11 and including curve guide plates, one of said plates beneath the picker wheel to prevent the picked bristles from falling from the open end of the groove and the second curved plate beneath a selected portion of the pin wheel to prevent the bristles. received by the pin wheel from falling from the selected portion of the pin wheel. a I 1..

13. In a machine of the character described, means for supporting a pair of continuous wires in substantially parallel adjacent relation, each wire having a free end, means for feeding spaced sets of bristles between the wires, means for gripping the free ends of the wires and movable to pull the wires to a selected length with spaced bristles therebetween, means for gripping the Wires remote from the free ends thereof with the bristles between the free ends and the means for gripping said wires remote from the free ends and means for twisting the wires from the free ends and the gripping means remote from the free ends to thereby lock the bristles between the wires.

14. The machine of claim 13, said gripping means remote from the free ends including a fork adapted to be positioned on the wires to permit the wires to be drawn therethrough.

15. The machine of claim 13, a carriage for said means for gripping the free ends of the wire, a cammed arm on said carriage, a rod rotatably held in the machine, a second arm in the path of movement of the cammed arm toward said second arm and secured to the rod, a fork mounted on the second arm and adapted to be positioned upon the wires upon rotation in one direction of the rod, a third arm secured to the rod for locking the gripping means remote from the open ends of the wires upon rotation of the rod in said one direction to position the fork on the wires, said cammed arm upon engagement of the second arm moving said fork up from the wires to. rotate said rod in a second direction and thereby move the third arm to unlock the gripping means remote from the open ends of said wires.

16. In a fully automatic machine for forming a brush, means for supporting an upper and a lower wire with leading portions susbtantially parallel and adjacent to each other, each wire being continuous with its leading portion having an exposed end, means for drawing the.

wires through the machine with said ends in the lead, means for feeding bristles onto the lower wire between it and the upper wire, means for twisting the wires to lock the bristles therebetween, and means for cutting the twisted wires to form the brush.

1?. In a fully automatic machine for'forming a brush means for supporting an upper and a lower wire with leading portions substantially parallel and adjacent to each other, each wire being continuous with its leading portions having an exposed end, a reciprocatable'and ro-' tatable chuck for gripping said ends of the wiresfmeans therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 286,511 1,845,209 Thacher Feb.:16,- 1932 1,851,537 Boardman Mar. 29,1932 1,888,352 Lipps Nov. 22, 1932 1,941,343 Epp 'Dec. 26, 193 3;

Weber Oct. 15583;; 

